Something that has been bothering me..

[Stavi]

So I just noticed today I can obtain a 340 weapon indirectly from the Rabanastre coin. This kind of bothered me since I've been working towards getting a Shinryu clear for the 335 weapon. Rabanastre coin also enables you to obtain equivalent gear to V3 Savage drops. So really if you do Rabanastre every week, you will end up with all 340 gear eventually (assuming you can clear V1S-V2S). This kind of made me realize there is no point in learning V3 savage, nor Shinryu. The only thing that would be an upgrade would be V4S/Bahamut weapon and that's still only a 5 ilvl difference. Why are they basically handing out 340 everything? I feel no incentive in stressing myself out learning these super mechanic intensive fights for the same gear I could get running the easy Raban weekly. Aside from possible unlikely mount drops and glamour, why bother? Any thoughts people?

[AiharaMizuki]

When savage has been out for months, it's normal for the 24-man raids to give tome gear upgrades. People still farm Shinryu for the mount, music roll or crafting material. Plus with the removal of weekly restriction on savage loots, those who can farm it will get more upgrades/gear compared to just doing Rabanastre once every week.

[Tsubaki75]

Just because the ilvl is the same on gear doesn't mean that it is the best gear for what you need. All jobs will have a mix of raid and tome gear that will maximize their stats after melding, for example the body, waist, and legs from savage are best for me on the left side. And besides shouldn't it be about improving and beating the instance more than it is about the gear?

[Stavi]

Yeah I initially strive to complete higher-end content, like I have been working towards finishing Shinryu because I like the look of the weapon and it was also a slight upgrade. But when I saw the 340 upgrade item in Rahlgr's it kind of felt pointless because I'm not progressing in terms of ilvl for doing Shinryu. Having the clear is a great personal achievement, but progression is one of the main factors in doing these things right?

[AiharaMizuki]

In a fight like Shinryu, the clear itself is an achievement. It's not a fight that can be facerolled with full i340 tomestone gears. We still need to learn and properly execute the mechanics, the last phase in particular is very punishing. Yes the weapon is no longer an upgrade but for glam/mount/crafting mats/music roll, it's still worth doing. Plus the fight is just amazing.

Omega Savage on the other hand, is just like what Tsubaki said. Different classes will want different secondary stats on their gears. Going full tomestone gear isn't the best choice.

[Stavi]

Oh I understand, so (for example) a 340 chest from augmented doesn't have the crit rate the 340 v3s Chest has. Thanks for clearing that up.
I guess I felt like we should be rewarded more for the amount of effort that goes into V3S+ compared to a tedious and easy 24 man, but just opinion :P

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I mean, I can appreciate the weapon argument somewhat but even Shinryu has been out for two months. Primals typically don't offer long term relevant gear as they are more meant to be a stepping stone. People continue farming them for mounts, songs and the craft tokens. Savage, on the other hand, is almost six months old at this point. People progressing now likely need the additional help from higher level gear. It's also intended to breath a little life back into Savage before the new tier drops since people can now farm for alt jobs and practice whereas before loot restrictions made it difficult to find parties. Basically, people still progressing on either fights now are doing so for the achievement not gear.

[HyoMinPark]

With regards to the gear upgrades, this is the general formula that FFXIV has had for a while. When Savage is released during even-number patches (3.0, 3.2, 3.4, 4.0, 4.2, etc.), the only gear available is the Savage gear and the unaugmented Tomestone gear, which can only be upgraded to the Augmented Tomestone gear by doing Savage. The tomestone weapons are only upgradable by clearing the third floor of a raid, and the final floor will always drop a better weapon. For odd-number patches (3.1, 3.3, 3.5, 4.1, etc.), they always have served as a “catch-up” patch when non-raiders could obtain upgrade pieces for their gear (save the weapon) by running the weekly 24-man, as well as alternative pieces of gear for their main jobs or alt jobs. The weapon upgrades have always been made available for the 24-man token exchange usually in a small x.18 patch following the release of the main catch-up patch.

I would still recommend attempting the later floors, because they are still worthwhile and for more than just mounts and glamour. The best gear for many jobs will rarely ever be “all Savage gear” or “all tomestone gear”, but rather a mixture of the two. The Savage weapons will always be the best just because of the weapon damage and main stat difference unless the secondaries are completely horrendous compared to the upgraded tomestone weapons.

People will still be running both Savage and Shinryu for gear for alt jobs and for tokens/pages and for the mount. But, sadly, if you are wanting “true progression” with regards to these fights, the best time to do them would be closer to when they are released. It’s much easier to get decent prog/learning groups for them compared to later in the tier, when a lot of people either just want strictly farming groups, or have already finished with Savage or the Extremes and have stopped running them.

I guess I felt like we should be rewarded more for the amount of effort that goes into V3S+ compared to a tedious and easy 24 man, but just opinion :P

There are rewards for clearing V3S+. People that cleared before catch-up patches probably feel like they were rewarded more than people who cleared during the catch-up patch do, but that doesn’t mean that the rewards aren’t still there. Whether or not something is “rewarding” though, is something only you can decide.

[Stavi]

I mean, I can appreciate the weapon argument somewhat but even Shinryu has been out for two months. Primals typically don't offer long term relevant gear as they are more meant to be a stepping stone. People continue farming them for mounts, songs and the craft tokens. Savage, on the other hand, is almost six months old at this point. People progressing now likely need the additional help from higher level gear. It's also intended to breath a little life back into Savage before the new tier drops since people can now farm for alt jobs and practice whereas before loot restrictions made it difficult to find parties. Basically, people still progressing on either fights now are doing so for the achievement not gear.

Makes sense, I guess I'm more behind than I thought I was. Thanks for your input, the stat allocation on the 340 pieces determines which is best in slot for your class which actually gives me a reason to do V3S.

[Stavi]

...But, sadly, if you are wanting “true progression” with regards to these fights, the best time to do them would be closer to when they are released. It’s much easier to get decent prog/learning groups for them compared to later in the tier, when a lot of people either just want strictly farming groups, or have already finished with Savage or the Extremes and have stopped running them.

This also highlights some of the things that I have been noticing.